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Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients

Background
All investigators seeking funding to conduct implementation research face the challenges of preparing a high-quality proposal and demonstrating their capacity to conduct the proposed study. Applicants need to demonstrate the progressive nature of their research agenda and their ability to build cumulatively upon the literature and their own preliminary studies. Because implementation science is an emerging field involving complex and multilevel processes, many investigators may not feel equipped to write competitive proposals, and this concern is pronounced among early stage implementation researchers.
Discussion
This article addresses the challenges of preparing grant applications that succeed in the emerging field of dissemination and implementation. We summarize ten ingredients that are important in implementation research grants. For each, we provide examples of how preliminary data, background literature, and narrative detail in the application can strengthen the application.
Summary
Every investigator struggles with the challenge of fitting into a page-limited application the research background, methodological detail, and information that can convey the project’s feasibility and likelihood of success. While no application can include a high level of detail about every ingredient, addressing the ten ingredients summarized in this article can help assure reviewers of the significance, feasibility, and impact of the proposed research.

The purpose of the Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Measures and Methods initiative is to bring together an international community of researchers and practitioners to create a growing and evolving resource for standardized, vetted D&I measures that can lead to comparable datasets and facilitate collaboration and comparison across disciplines and regions.

Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health: Translating Science to Practice

Fifteen to twenty years is how long it takes for the billions of dollars of university-based research to translate into evidence-based policies and programs suitable for public use. Over the past decade, an exciting science has emerged that seeks to narrow the gap between the discovery of new knowledge and its application in public health, mental health, and health care settings. Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research seeks to understand how to best apply scientific advances in the real world, by focusing on pushing the evidence-based knowledge base out into routine use. To help propel this crucial field forward, leading D&I scholars and researchers have collaborated to put together this volume to address a number of key issues, including: how to evaluate the evidence base on effective interventions; which strategies will produce the greatest impact; how to design an appropriate study; and how to track a set of essential outcomes. D&I studies must also take into account the barriers to uptake of evidence-based interventions in the communities where people live their lives and the social service agencies, hospitals, and clinics where they receive care. The challenges of moving research to practice and policy are universal, and future progress calls for collaborative partnerships and cross-country research. The fundamental tenet of D&I research-taking what we know about improving health and putting it into practice-must be the highest priority. This book is nothing less than a roadmap that will have broad appeal to researchers and practitioners in epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral science, economics, medicine, social work, psychology, and anthropology.

The conference was a great success this year! Thank you to everyone who helped coordinate this amazing conference. We hope you enjoyed the videos from the Narrative Library that were playing throughout the plenary and poster sessions. Make sure to check the site often for updates!